On the ground with clean power in India

Clean power is a completely different market in India compared to the U.S. Power companies are funding both solar and wind as a way to add more power generation capability, as many areas in India are struggling to provide enough power supply to meet the growing demand. Vineeth Vijayaraghavan is the founder and editor of a site focused on cleantech in India, Panchabuta, and here’s what he’s been watching, reading, and writing about this week:

Indian power distribution companies getting into solar.Tata-backed NDPL, which supplies power to the north and northwest Delhi, plans to generate a significant amount of solar power by the end of the year. Three projects are expected to be approved next month, and nine projects have already been commissioned.

Spanish solar PV. Spanish company T-Solar Group has built a 5 MW solar PV power plant in India. Vijayaraghavan says it is “the first photovoltaic power plant to be brought online by a Spanish company in India.”

Hurdle for solar PV in Karnataka. Karnataka in southern India had plans to generate 200 MW of power from solar panels, but the Union ministry of new and renewable energy (MNRE) rejected its proposal for subsidies for 18 projects from the state. Because of that decision, the state government cancelled permission for those projects.

Mahindra jumps into solar. The $12.5 billion conglomerate the Mahindra group is diversifying into solar energy through its in-house private equity arm Mahindra Partners.

India’s National Solar Mission is working. One hundred fifty companies pledged interest in building 2,500 MW of solar in response to the Indian government’s invitation under the second phase of the National Solar Mission.

On the defense. India defends itself at a WTO meeting, over its requirement to use some locally made equipment for solar projects.

Indian power grid operator has global ambitions. State-run PowerGrid Corporation, which is a central transmission utility, intends to go global as an investor and developer of transmission systems.

Chinese power company targets India. China’s Dongfang Electric has gotten certification for one of its wind turbines, which removes a barrier to sell it in India.